NAVY LEAGUER

Panneton Term Nears End

National President Says Council Work is Key

“Just unbelievable” is how John
Panneton describes his tenure as the
Navy League’s president for the last
two years. His presidency draws to a
close officially at the upcoming national convention in November when the current president-elect, Michael McGrath, will take the helm. In a
recent interview, Panneton was reflective about
his accomplishments and the importance of the
councils’ work.

“When I assumed this position, my wife Alice
and I sat down with key members of the staff and
others to plan our course of action,” said
Panneton. “I knew that the councils were the most
important element of the organization, so we
started to focus my energy on the councils.”

Over the course of the last two years, Panneton
has made a concerted effort to attend region meetings and visit not only some of the larger councils

but the smaller ones, too. One such council is
New Bern (Coastal Carolina) in North Carolina
with approximately 120 members.

“With New Bern, I think every member of the
council was at the dinner they had for me,” he
recalled. “I believe it is just as important for me to
go the smaller ones. Some had never received a
national president before in several years and having a national president visit helps to attract local
community leaders.”

Acknowledging that the overseas councils have
very different needs and concerns, Panneton established the first national vice president for international relations to act as an advocate for the overseas councils. In addition, Panneton traveled to
several of the overseas councils and attended last
year’s European regional meeting, hosted by the
Barcelona Council. This summer he and Alice visited the councils in Rome, (please continue to page 2)

TOP: Panneton and his wife, Alice are joined by (l to r, back row) Rome Council President Laila Volpe, Marilyn Halder, Europe RegionPresident Betty Reese, Naples Council president Robert Halder and Mr. and Mrs. Michael L. James, during a reception in Rome on thefirst leg of their recent trip that included stops in South Korea, Guam, Hawaii and San Diego.BOTTOM LEFT: (l to r) Panneton announcing winner of the Pacific Southwest Region’s Sea Cadet Scholarship, Naval Sea CadetCorps Chief Petty Officer Michael Gross. The presentation ceremony was held at Pacific Southwest Region meeting at the OfficersClub on Camp Pendleton, Ca.BOTTOM RIGHT: (l to r) Panneton with Hawaii Area President Joseph J. McClelland Jr. and Lt. Gen. John F. Goodman, commander,U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific at an event in Oahu on Panneton’s recent visit to Hawaii for Memorial Day.

From the President

Like our nation’s Sea Services, the
Navy League faces challenging
times. Our men and women in
uniform at home and abroad are
bravely fighting the Global War on Terror and
ensuring our homeland security. As advocates
for the Sea Services, we are challenged to
ensure that our citizens, especially our leaders, not only understand the importance of
sea power to our island nation, but also the
importance of providing our Sailors, Marines,
Coast Guardsmen and Merchant Mariners the
best training, weapon systems and equipment
to win the fight.

We must ensure that our educational outreach and support programs are and will continue to be relevant to the issues our Sea
Services face. The strength and success of
those programs rests squarely on the shoulders
of our members. With guidance and assistance
from our outstanding headquarters staff, our
councils must lead the charge in meeting the
challenge. Many of you are doing an outstanding job. We have fantastic programs that recognize the sacrifices and accomplishments of
our Sea Service members, offer informative
educational forums for community members
and leaders, provide important morale and
support services to service members and their
families, and support youth programs such as
the Naval Sea Cadets and JROTC. We continue to garner the support of our Sea Service
leaders and make our mark on Capitol Hill.

Conducting these programs is no easy
task. That is why we must broaden the diversity of our membership base, particularly to
include the family members of our service
members, and collaborate with other community, civic organizations. We are experiencing
wonderful growth in our corporate membership and development programs, but in order
to meet rising program and operations costs,
we must also bolster our financial posture,
which includes increasing membership dues.

We cannot rest comfortably on our suc-cesses. Like the men and women we support,
our next fight is always just around the corner and we must be prepared to meet the
challenge — organizationally and financially.

Alice and I want to thank you for the support you have given us but, most importantly,
for your support to the men and women of our
Sea Services and their families. We must never
forget that everything we do, we do for them.